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Democrat candidates for governor kick it up as primary looms [The Providence Journal, R.I. :: ](Providence Journal (RI) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 21--PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- With less than three weeks to go and a new poll showing a "wide-open" primary race for governor, the warring Democrats -- and their backers -- have gone all-out with new TV ads, Facebook postings and mailers financed by some of the top names, past and present, at CVS, Gilbane Construction and the former Fleet Bank. Along the way, the Laborers Political League Education Fund funneled $50,000 to a super-PAC promoting General Treasurer Gina Raimondo's candidacy. A group affiliated with the Washington, D.C.-based Emily's List gave another $75,000 for a targeted direct-mail campaign promoting Raimondo's "jobs plan." With the clock ticking, all of the candidates kicked into high gear. Providence Mayor Angel Taveras lobbed an attack ad on Tuesday that, in 30 seconds, questions the depth of 32-year-old rival Clay Pell's job experience, while also skewering Raimondo for paying $69 million in investment fees. His message: "Pell won't get things done. Raimondo works for Wall Street. Neither will deliver for us." The Raimondo camp labeled the ad "blatantly false," while the Pell camp denounced the "mudslinging" without actually disputing anything Taveras said. Raimondo, meanwhile, ran a new ad touting her role as a onetime partner at Point Judith Capital in providing some of the private investment dollars that helped the Narragansett Brewing Co. reopen a Rhode Island headquarters, which currently has seven full-time employees, and rebuild the brand. Using the 2005 reopening of Narragansett Brewing as an example, she tells viewers: "I helped create over a thousand jobs, from high-tech to making beer. Now I am running for governor with a plan to bring manufacturing jobs back to Rhode Island ... and the experience to get it done." While the beer is still brewed and bottled out of state, the company's vice president of sales and marketing, Jim Crooks, on Wednesday said that Point Judith was "very significant in our ability to get our footing back in Rhode Island." Asked how Point Judith's 2005 investment in the company relates to actions Raimondo might take as governor, spokeswoman Nicole Kayner said, "the New England-New York region has a flourishing start-up capital environment," and the "business concierge service" that Raimondo would create in state government "can house knowledge of all available sources of capital in our region, and create a network into which our small businesses and entrepreneurs will be able to tap." But the ad also serves as a counterpoint to Taveras' attempt, in his latest TV spot, to make the words Point Judith Capital synonymous with "secret" city and state deals. In Taveras' new ad, a viewer sees Raimondo, in a 2013 TV interview, say, "We're always looking to reduce fees wherever possible. I hate paying fees." Then a voice says: "Really? Her venture capital firm secured a secret, no-bid contract funded by taxpayers.... She paid millions in increased fees to Wall Street while collecting over $500,000 in contributions." (Backup provided by the campaign cites $43.3 million in FY 2012 investment fees; $69.1 million in 2013 investment fees.) The ad then describes the city of Providence's $1-million investment in Raimondo's venture-capital firm -- under previous mayor and current U.S. Rep. David Cicilline -- as "a secret, no-bid contract funded by taxpayers." From Raimondo campaign spokeswoman Kayner came this response: "It's clear that Mayor Taveras is getting desperate.... The ad is blatantly false." "The city's contract with Gina's previous firm, Point Judith Capital, is standard and it was not done in secret. It was voted on in a public meeting and approved unanimously, based on the recommendation of the city's investment adviser... [and] the donors the mayor claims as 'Wall Street' donors include accountants, a guy who works for a grocery store chain and lawyers at firms that sue Wall Street." The stepped-up activity underscores the findings of a new Providence Journal-WPRI poll, released Wednesday, that shows Raimondo with a 5-point lead. The poll that veteran pollster Joseph Fleming conducted between Monday, Aug. 11, and Thursday, Aug. 14, showed Raimondo with 32 percent, former frontrunner Taveras with 27 percent and Pell closing in, with 26 percent of the primary vote. Taveras slipped, Pell surged and Raimondo emerged the frontrunner after picking up only 3 percentage points since the last Fleming poll, in May. As Fleming sees it: "No one has a high enough percentage right now to say they can win the race.... It is still wide open." Raimondo campaign manager Eric Hyers hailed "the continued outpouring of support for Gina." "While Mayor Taveras continues to run a nasty smear campaign against Gina, voters aren't buying it and now his campaign is flailing," he said. Taveras campaign spokeswoman Dawn Bergantino said the mayor remains confident that after being outspent 2 to 1, he will be able to let voters see "the clear choice" in the final three weeks. "Our Wall Street-backed treasurer has spent more than a month and close to a million dollars running attack ads trying to distract from her own record, but has not broken away from the pack," Bergantino said. Chimed Pell campaign manager Devin Driscoll: "Our campaign has momentum moving into the last days of this race for one simple reason -- we've got a real plan to get our state back on course, with new ideas and a fresh perspective to the long-standing challenges faced by Rhode Island. Meanwhile, the new union-led coalition known as "Working Families for Angel Taveras" posted a video on Facebook of Norma Camacho -- the 72-year-old mother of Rosa Morales, the president of one of the Council 94, AFSCME locals. "He's the fighter for the little guy," says Camacho, thanking lawyer Taveras for helping her in 2006 win back most of a $20,000 down payment on what turned out to be an uninhabitable house on McLellan Street in Providence. At the same time, a mailer hailing Raimondo's "jobs plan," landed on doorsteps. The fine print said: "Paid for by American LeadHERship PAC, Kate Coyne-McCoy." Coyne-McCoy did not respond to inquiries this week, but filings with the state Board of Elections showed a group calling itself "Rhode Island WOMEN VOTE!" -- with a Washington, D.C., phone number that goes to the advocacy group known as Emily's List -- gave $75,000 to her PAC last week. Filings this week reflect another $82,501 in donations to this pro-Raimondo PAC from Tom Ryan ($5,000), Paul Choquette ($2,500), Terence Murray ($5,000), among others, including the Laborers' Political League Education Fund ($50,000). ___ (c)2014 The Providence Journal (Providence, R.I.) Visit The Providence Journal (Providence, R.I.) at www.projo.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |